MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (Mike Osborne) -- The Rutherford County Child Advocacy Center is out with ideas for helping your children understand and weather the pandemic.
First, stay calm yourself. Your children can sense your anxiety.
Second, answer their questions. Your reluctance to talk about the crisis will make them more anxious.
Third, be honest, but also make your explanations age appropriate.
Fourth, limit your child’s media consumption - a good idea for everyone in the family.
And finally, find a constructive way for your children to help. Giving them something tangible to do will reduce anxiety. Again, a good suggestion for anyone of any age.
Here are some additional resource links suggested by the CACRC.
- Coronavirus And Parenting: What You Need To Know Now https://www.npr.org/2020/03/13/814615866/coronavirus-and-parenting-what-you-need-to-know-now
- Coronavirus (COVID-19): How to Talk to Your Child https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/coronavirus-how-talk-child.html
- How to Talk to Children about the Coronavirus https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-to-talk-to-children-about-the-coronavirus-2020030719111
- Talking with Children about Coronavirus Disease 2019 https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/talking-with-children.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fcommunity%2Fschools-childcare%2Ftalking-with-children.html
- Talking to Kids About the Coronavirus https://childmind.org/article/talking-to-kids-about-the-coronavirus/
